Wrecking bar



March 28, 1950 E. PARKER WRECKING BAR Filed May 2, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 1Inventor Luke E. Parker 1! Mill March 28, 1950 1.. E. PARKER 2,502,271

WRECKING BAR Filed May 2, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor Luke EPark erAttorneys Patented Mar. 28, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WRECKINGBAR Luke E. Parker, Pe Ell, Wash.

Application May 2, 1947,'Serial- No. 745,562

'7 Claims. 1

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in wrecking barsand the primary purpose of the present invention is to provide aWrecking bar adapted to be used for prying boards from a joist and whichare nailed on either side of said joist.

Another important object of the present invention is to provide a deviceof the character referred to comprising a handle and a shank slidable atone end of the handle, said shank terminating at one end into anail-removing claw and a cross-bar adapted to bear against a joist forgiving leverage to the handle.

A further feature of the present invention is to provide a wrecking barso designed to remove boards from joists in such a manner as to preventcracking and splitting of the boards whether the boards are nailed onthe near side of the joist to which the bar is applied or on the farside of the joist to which the bar is applied.

A still further feature of the present invention is to provide awreckingbar of the class described that is simple and practical inconstruction, strong'and reliable in use, relatively inexpensive tomanufacture, and otherwise well adapted for the purposes for which thesame is intended.

Other objects and advantages reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming part hereof, wherein likenumerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary top plan view of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevation of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an end elevation of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a group perspective of the wrecking bar;

Figure 6 is a perspective view showing the tool in use for removing aboard on the far side of a joist; and

Figure 7 is a perspective view showing the tool in use for removingboards on the near side of a joist.

Referring now to the drawings in detail wherein, for the purpose ofillustration, there has been disclosed a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention, the numeral 5 represents an elongated handle havingone end beveled, as at 6, for forming a prying implement useful inwrecking.

The other end of handle 5 has an end portion designated by the numeral 1which is at substantially right angles with the handle.

The upper ends of a substantially U-shaped shoe Bare pivoted by a pin orthe like!) to the end portion.

A coil spring it is looped around the pin and has oneend H fitted into abore I2 'in'the'end portion, and the other end 13 of said spring isadapted to engage a bore I4 in the shoe to normally hold the axis of theshoe in alinement with the axis of the end portion.

A substantially rectangular shank I5 is slidable on the handle andterminates at its forwardend into an upwardly and rearwardly extendingclaw l6 an'da cross-bar ll, all forming an integral part.

A stop it carried by the handle extends outwardly from both sides of thehandle and limits the rearward movement of the shank on the handle.

In use of the device for removing-boards won the near side of a joist2B, the cross-bar bears inwardly against the near side joist and therear edges of the shoe bear outwardly against the inside of the board,as shown in Figure 7. By applying a downward pressure on the handle, theboard is pulled forwardly from the joist and the shank is extendedforwardly on the handle.

To remove the boards 21 on the far side of a joist 22, the cross-barbears inwardlyagainstthe far side of the joist and the forward edges ofthe shoe bear outwardly against the inner face of the board, as shown inFigure 6.

A downward pressure of the handle forces the board rearwardly of thejoist and the shank bears rearwardly against the stop. It has beenfound, that during the use of the present wrecking bar in removingboards by a downward thrust on the lever, as shown in Figure 6, thatwhen the cross bar I! is disposed forwardly of the longitudinal axis ofthe end portion 1, a satisfactory lever action may be applied to thelever 5, however, when removing boards as shown in Figure 7, it has beenfound that a more satisfactory leverage action will be prevalent if thecross bar I! is disposed rearwardly of the longitudinal axis of the endportion l without marring or destroying the joist or boards that areengaged by the cross bar I! or shoe 8.

In View of the foregoing description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, it is believed that a clear understanding of thedevice will be quite apparent to those skilled in this art. A moredetailed description is accordingly deemed unnecessary.

It is to be understood, however, that even though there is herein shownand described a preferred embodiment of the invention, the same 3 issusceptible to certain changes fully comprehended by the spirit of theinvention as herein described and Within the scope of the appendedclaims.

That I claim is:

1. A Wrecking bar comprising a substantially L-shaped lever terminatingat one end into a handle, a pivotal board-engaging shoe at the other endof the lever, a shank slidable on the lever for movement relative to theboard engaging shoe, a cross-bar at one end of the shank forming afulcrum, and spring means normally yieldingly positioning the shoeagainst a board when the cross-bar is disposed across a joist.

2. A wrecking bar comprising a substantially L- shaped lever terminatingat one end into a handle, a substantially U-shaped board-engaging memberpivoted at its leg portions to the other end of the lever, a shankslidable on the handle for move ment relative to the board engagingshoe, a crossbar integrally formed at one end of the shank, a stopcarried by the handle limiting sliding movement of the shank, and springmeans carried by the shoe for normally yieldingly positioning the shoeagainst a board when the cross-bar is disposed across a joist.

3. A wrecking bar comprising a lever having a downwardly turned endportion, a substantially U-shaped shoe embracing and pivoted to the endportion, spring means carried by the shoe normally holding the axis ofthe shoe in alinement with the axis of the end portion, a shank slidableon the lever for movement relative to the shoe, and a cross-bar carriedby the outer end of the shank adapted to bear against a joist when theshoe bears against a board.

l. A wrecking bar comprising a lever having a downwardly turned endportion, a substantially U-shaped shoe pivoted to the end portion,spring means carried b the shoe normally holding the axis of the shoe inalinement with the axis of the end portion, a shank slidable on thelever at one end for movement relative to the shoe, a stop carried bythe lever limiting rearward movement of the shank, and a cross-barcarried by the outer end of the shank forming a fulcrum adapted to bearagainst a joist when the shoe bears against a board.

5. A wrecking bar comprising a lever termimating in an angulated endportion, a pivotal board engaging shoe embracing the angulated endportion of the lever, a shank slidably mounted on the lever forlongitudinal movement relative 4 to the angulated end portion of thelever, stop means carried by the lever for limiting the sliding movementof the shank away from the angulated end portion of the lever, andfulcrum means fixed to and movable with the shank for bearing against ajoist.

6. A wrecking bar comprising a lever terminating in an angulated endportion, a substantially U-shaped board engaging member embracing andpivoted to the angulated end portion of the lever including a forwardbearing portion and a rear bearing portion, a shank slidably mounted onthe lever for movement relative to the angulated end portion of thelever including a forward end and a rear end, a fulcrum carried by thehank including a forward bearing portion for 00- operating with the rearbearing portion of the board engaging member and a rear bearing portioncooperating with the forward bearing portion of the board engagingmember, and stop means carried by the lever for limiting the slidingmovement of the shank away from the angulated end portion of the leverwhen the forward bearing portion of the fulcrum engages a joist and therear bearing portion of the board engaging member engages a board.

'7. A wrecking bar comprising an elongated lever having a lateralprojection at one end thereof, a collar slidably received on said lever,said projection limiting sliding movement of said collar in onedirection, a stop pin fixed to and projecting laterally from said leverfor limiting sliding movement of said collar from said projection, a U-shaped bearing member embracing the projection, a pivot pin securing theleg portions of said bearing member to said projection, a spring memberembracing said pivot pin and interposed between said projection and oneleg of said bearing member, said spring having end portions secured tosaid projection and said pressure member respectively to normally retainthe pressure member perpendicular to said lever, and a fulcrum carried bsaid collar and movable therewith.

LUKE E. PARKER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,646,894 Basore Oct. 25, 19272,195,667 Baker Apr. 2, 1940

